Information culture of Ghanaian immigrants living in New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the information culture of Ghanaian immigrants living in New Zealand. The values, beliefs and behaviours that influence the ways information is identified, accessed, used, shared and preserved, defines people's information culture. Some Ghanaians have migrated to New Zealand for different reasons, including studies, work and resettlement. To live successfully and peacefully in a foreign country, they need specific information and to understand where to find, use and share it. This paper investigated the factors that influence the beliefs and perspectives Ghanaians hold around information the information they use in New Zealand.Design/methodology/approach -A qualitative approach was adopted. Both questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data from 27 Ghanaians living in different regions of New Zealand. Basic questionnaire analysis was done in survey monkey. Interview transcripts were analysed manually by reading through severally using colour patterns to identify key concepts and themes and using tables to organise them.Findings -The main areas Ghanaians are interested in using information about in New Zealand include education, health, information on environmental issues, New Zealand politics and sports. Few Ghanaians are interested in information about entertainment and religion and agriculture as these areas do not have much impact on the purposes for their lives in New Zealand. Although most Ghanaians consider themselves poor record-keepers, they accord high value to the information they seek and use in New Zealand. Their preferred information source is the World Wide Web, although other sources such as libraries and academic databases are also considered useful. The most preferred and trusted approach of sharing information is face-to-face is considered. Social media, WhatsApp, mobile phones, etc. are also considered reliable ways of communicating information.Research limitations/implication -Only 27 Ghanaians participated in the study, their circumstances surrounding the life in New Zealand may be completely different from other Ghanaians. So their views may not fully reflect the situations of all Ghanaians in New Zealand. Also, the fact that most participants were familiar with the researcher could impact their responses.Practical implication -This paper provides a useful understanding of the information cultural patterns of Ghanaians and can provide a useful basis for further investigations of Ghanaians and other immigrants' life patterns in New Zealand.

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